


one session and she’s florence nightingale

by cassanabaratheon



Category: Home Fires (UK TV)
Genre: Gen, post-s2 but au in some respects
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 04:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20303458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassanabaratheon/pseuds/cassanabaratheon
Summary: As Joyce’s last official act as head of the WI (temporary head! Sarah would hasten to interject lest she forgot, which was unlikely given how much Sarah reminded her of it), and by popular demand from a handful of the members, another First Aid training session was being held in the village hall Saturday mid-afternoon.aka First Aid lesson - take 2.





	one session and she’s florence nightingale

**Author's Note:**

> Purely written because I couldn't shake the image out of my head and I was so disappointed we didn't have them all take part. This has also been sitting on my laptop for too long so it's here at long last.
> 
> Post-s2 but Teresa never got married. Sarah and her biscuit obsession comes from the headcanons made up between Laurentia & myself!

As Joyce’s last official act as head of the WI (_temporary head!_ Sarah would hasten to interject lest she forgot, which was unlikely given how much Sarah reminded her of it), and by popular demand from a handful of the members, another short First Aid training session was being held in the village hall Saturday mid-afternoon. With Noah around a friend’s house with a few other children he was becoming close with, they slipped into seats at the front just before Joyce began.

The turnout was roughly the same but with some new additions who had been unable to make it the last time. That last part, in Joyce’s greeting speech, seemed to have be directed to Frances, Sarah and Alison in particular who were seated together.

“I feel as if I’m back at school being told off by my teacher,” Alison mumbled dryly to the other ladies. Sarah made a light scoffing noise, customarily crossing her arms whilst Frances smirked.

“I doubt you ever got into trouble at school,” Teresa piped up from Alison’s left.

“Oh, you’d be surprised,” she said with an enigmatic smile and the four of them laughed quietly.

“Now,” Joyce announced, cutting over them. “As Dr Campbell is otherwise engaged this afternoon, Mrs Campbell will be going through the procedures. Mrs Campbell.”

Erica smiled as she stepped up to stand in front of them. “Thank you, Mrs Cameron. I’ve set up the room so I suggest we pair up and begin with cuts and bandages.”

The ladies rose to their feet, heads turning to find someone. Alison turned to Teresa without any hesitancy, having, it seems, already previously decided that they would be partners in this exercise.

“Pat?” Erica’s voice called out as she looked towards their little group to see how they had paired up. “You could go with Frances and, Mim, with Sarah, as you both know what to do from before.”

“I just hope I remember it all,” Pat murmured and Frances gave her a kind smile.

“I’m sure you remember more than you think. Besides, we are here to learn. Now, shall we?”

* * *

“Well, I think I have the hang of this!” Frances stated as she watched Pat unwind the gauze from around her wrist where she had been instructing Frances. From the next station along, which just so happened to be where her sister was seated, Sarah peered over.

“Listen to her, one session and she’s Florence Nightingale,” she teased, grinning at Miriam who tried (unsuccessfully) to suppress a chuckle.

Her sister turned in her seat to look back at her, expression showing she was coolly unimpressed by her joke. “I am a fast-learner, as you well know.” Sarah rolled her eyes and was about to point out she hadn’t even had a go yet herself when Frances spoke again. “How about I practise on you? You wouldn’t mind would you, Pat? Mim?”

Pat shook her head obligingly and Sarah wanted to tell Miriam to stay put but the other woman smiled brightly at Frances’ suggestion.

“Actually, that would be wonderful. Been up half the night with the baby and I do love her but I have missed a good night’s sleep. Bryn also.”

Sarah gave a sympathetic look at Miriam as the other woman went off to the side with Pat to get a cup of tea. Sympathy turned into a glare at her sister’s gleeful expression as she came towards her. Remaining in her chair, Sarah crossed her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow expectantly.

“Hmm, I think you will have a head wound. Yes,” Frances mused and before Sarah could protest, her sister took the gauze Miriam had been previously using, and set to work. As she started, Frances hummed to herself, a smirk across her face that her sister couldn’t see but guessed was there as she was forced to keep her head straight and forward.

“Frances, you’re covering my eye!”

“Am I? Oh, well, you also have an eye injury,” she replied innocently and Sarah tried to tip her head back to glare at her but Frances’ hands on her head refrained her from doing so.

Instead, she huffed and re-folded her arms and tapped her foot impatiently as her sister continued to wrap her head up, covering her right eye completely. Eventually, Frances reached the end and with a great flourish of a ta-da! Stepped back with a huge grin and admired her handiwork.

The ladies near them glanced over and giggled at the sight. Which only meant Sarah knew she looked as ridiculous as she felt and the gleam in Frances’ eye told her as much.

“You look quite…fetching,” Frances snickered and Sarah narrowed her eyes, although the glare was ineffective as one eye was covered and her lips twitched.

“Well, I think I should have a go,” she countered, getting to her feet, thankful that Frances hadn’t seen to bind her fingers together. She found a spare bandage and promptly pushed Frances into an empty seat.

By the time Sarah was done, Frances’ right ankle was wrapped up neatly…to the chair leg and she too was sporting a bandaged head with her left eye (the one Sarah knew was weaker) covered. This sparked a small war between them and the two of them continued to wrap the other up until they ran out and only then did the see what they had done to one another. They stared for a moment before erupting into fits of giggles, causing more than a few heads to turn to them.

“They are worse than some of my school children!” Teresa laughed when she looked up from where she was putting Alison’s arm into a sling. “They look like them Egyptian mummies in the British Museum.”

“Oh, this is nothing compared to the still-life paintings we did a couple of years ago,” Alison told her, looking over at her friends with an amused expression. “Instead of painting on the canvas, they painted each other.”

“That was entirely Frances’ fault,” Sarah protested.

“My fault?!" Her sister scoffed. "You were the one who started to meddle with my painting.”

“I was improving it, trying to save it from the disaster it was becoming.”

“Improving it?” She fidgeted with her bandage over her eye. “You were sabotaging mine as yours was already ruined.”

“It was artistically creative!”

“Is that what you call it?”

Sarah opened her mouth to argue back but the sound of a throat being cleared very loudly behind them caused them both to crane their necks to see a rather unamused Joyce. She wore the same expression they had seen many times over their lives (which was directed at them and their…misadventures) and they felt every bit the part of naughty children but not one bit apologetic.

“Perhaps it is time we finished with the bandages,” Joyce said lightly but clear that they had both earned her disapproval. “Don’t you think, Mrs Campbell?”

Erica bit her lip lightly, hiding her own smile at the sight of them and quietly agreed with Joyce, telling them that they all seemed to have gotten the hang of this.

“Some more than others,” Joyce added before she moved away from them with one final arch of her eyebrow.

“Wonderful,” Sarah nudged her sister with her knee. “Now we’re back in Joyce’s bad book.”

“Did we ever really leave?” Frances asked, mirth twinkling in her eyes and Sarah chuckled.

She looked at her sister affectionately as she tried to itch her shoulder with her hand all wrapped up. This was possibly the first time that she had seen Frances back to almost her old self – herself before all the heartache – but she was getting there and it eased some of the worry in her heart.

“Do you, er, both need help?”

They looked up to see Miriam and Pat at their sides and with a sigh, Frances nodded and the four of them swiftly got to work, unwinding and in some part, untying, their handiwork. Frances caught Sarah’s eye and they shared a cheeky smile, playfully sticking their tongues out at one another when Pat and Miriam weren’t looking.

* * *

“Thank you, ladies, for all your efforts this afternoon. May we give Mrs Campbell a round of applause for her part and, of course, Mrs Cameron for helping to organise this,” Frances said, addressing the women at the end of the session, beginning the applause with a bright smile.

Erica gracefully bobbed her head in acknowledgement whilst Joyce did the same although she couldn’t stop from mildly noting that she hoped that everyone _did_ learn something.

It was not lost on either Frances or Sarah that this was a remark for them but whilst the latter rolled her eyes, Frances just kept smiling cheerfully. “Oh, I’m sure we all learnt a great deal, Mrs Cameron. Nothing like being completely thorough when practising.”

Sarah hide a snort behind her hand as Joyce pursed her lips and took a seat so Frances could address them all. Once more she thanked them for being so understanding in her absence and that she felt ready to take up the reins once more, adding that she was going to introduce a sign-up sheet for people to put forward ideas for other sessions that they would think would be beneficial for them all. When she finished and they all dispersed to go home or enjoy the rest of the rather pleasant afternoon, Sarah waited for Frances as she fetched her handbag, talking to Teresa as Alison went to fetch Boris from outside where she found him snoozing in the sun.

“On your way home?” Teresa questioned.

“Picking up Noah first,” Frances replied as she approached.

“Well, have a good afternoon. We have a dog to feed,” Teresa said with a grin at Alison who sighed wearily as she came back.

“And don’t we know it,” she said, glancing down fondly at Boris who was now tugging slightly on his lead. “Yes, yes, we know.”

“We’ll let you get on. Have a good evening and we’ll see you on Monday to go over the budget?” Frances said and Alison smiled gently at her as they said their goodbyes.

“That was alright, wasn’t it?” Sarah stated as she slipped her arm through her sister’s and gave it as squeeze as they set off.

“If by ‘alright’ you mean useful, then, yes, it was. Although up until a point,” Frances gave her a knowing look.

“Entirely your fault,” Sarah muttered and her sister ignored her.

“I’d be most interested to read the pamphlet Dr Campbell has about helping with one’s breathing. A shame we didn’t have the time to go through it like the other class did.”

“From what Steph said, last time more than a few didn’t wish to do it.”

Frances rolled her eyes heavenwards. “Honestly!”

“In any case, this was only supposed to be an introduction to First Aid,” she reminded her. “Now, come on. Let’s go get Noah and then we can have tea – I believe I spied some biscuits in the cupboard.”

Frances rolled her eyes at her sister. “Snooping in my cupboards again? Those are to last us for more than one sitting – unlike the last box.”

“Hardly snooping,” Sarah sniffed indignantly. “They were in full view, not a very good hiding place if that was the intention, by the way.”

Frances smirked and shook her coppery head. “Sarah, they could be in the most Top-Secret place and you’d still find them.”

Sarah shoved her side, fully expecting her sister to retaliate and they laughed as they strolled down the street, with matching grins and arms still very much entwined.


End file.
